Hades Vs Poseidon – Which GOD Would Win? – Greek Mythology Explained



Hey Everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today’s video, we’re going to dive into another versus, this time pitting Hades, the lord of the underworld, against Poseidon, the lord of the sea.

In this head-to-head we’re going to determine who would win based on several points of consideration – specifically, weapons, sphere of influence, raw power, and combat ability – to see which one would ultimately emerge victorious.

To set the stage for this, we’re going to do a quick overview of part of the Greek creation myth, as much of the information we’ll need is incorporated in it.

Here we go.

Following the rule of the Primordials, Cronus, the youngest and boldest of the 12 first-generation titans, rose to power by castrating his father, Uranus, taking his place. After establishing himself as the king of the cosmos, Cronus learned from his parents that he was fated to be overthrown by one of his sons as he himself had overthrown his father, perpetuating the vicious cycle of son supplanting father. In an effort to forestall this eventuality, he swallowed his children as soon as they were born, imprisoning them inside himself. But his attempt to preempt his fate was thwarted when his consort, the titan goddess Rhea, proffered a stone swaddled in baby’s wrappings in the place of her youngest son, Zeus, who was whisked away and raised in secret. When Zeus was grown, he made a triumphant return, freed his siblings from Cronus’ belly, freed the cyclopes and the Hecatonchires, and then successfully led this motley alliance of gods and monsters in a 10 year war against the titans called the Titanomachy, which ended with the defeat of the titans and their subsequent imprisonment in Tartarus.

Now, you might be wondering: why is this portion of the creation myth integral to a versus video that pits Hades against Poseidon to see which god would emerge victorious after an all out one-on-one battle. Well, it’s crucial because this portion of the creation myth sets the stage for three of the most important factors in this comparison, namely, weapons, relative power level, and sphere of influence.

The Hecatonchires and the Cyclopes – there were three of each – allied themselves with the gods after the gods traveled to the underworld, slayed the dragon Campe, and freed each trio. The Hecatonchires were indomitable behemoths. 50 arms hung from each shoulder, and 50 heads surmounted each of their bodies. They joined the gods on the battlefield, unleashing an onslaught of boulders that rained down on the Titans. The main contribution of the Cyclopes wasn’t as warriors, but rather, as forge masters. They crafted three weapons, one for each of the brothers. They made Zeus’ lightning bolts, Hades’ cap of darkness, and Poseidon’s trident. We’re going to revisit these later in the video, looking at how they bolster each god’s strength.

After the war was over, Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon each drew lots to see which domain would be distributed to which brother. To Zeus went the skies, to Hades, the underworld, and to Poseidon, the sea. The fact that each of their domains were distributed by chance tells us that each of the brothers were all about on the same power level, at least that Hades and Poseidon were, as they all possessed the capacity to rule any of the three realms. Either Hades or Poseidon could just as easily have been appointed to the skies. However, despite this argument, we’re going to exclude Zeus from it because he’s consistently portrayed throughout Greek mythology as being more powerful than either of his brothers.

Because Hades and Poseidon each had the same level of raw power – this fact extrapolated from them having the capacity to rule each other’s domains – a battle between them, then, would be determined by the factors that differentiate them. These factors are domains, combat abilities, and weapons, and we’re going to address each one, in that order.

Watch the video for the rest!

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44 thoughts on “Hades Vs Poseidon – Which GOD Would Win? – Greek Mythology Explained”

  1. Hades become absolute unseen. Shapeshift into a fly then revert and slice his wrist. Then stole the trident
    And then back stabs him.

    Who knows hades true power never reveal. Give him prep time and I guess he could do much more.

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  2. I think you overlooked Hades Cap of Darkness.

    He may have done many, many things in every conflict. In secret. His combat prowess is virtually impossible to predict. This is intentional.

    Poseidon has a desire to be in the midst of battle. To be known thusly. Arrogance is a virtue easily exploited.

    Reigning in shadow, not needing to be known as great. Not needing to be seen as glorious shows humility and cunning.

    In a drawn out battle, Hades has the advantage. He can hide, rest. Further enraging the arrogant Poseidon. Whittling away at him from range.

    Having the Cap, it would be foolish to not use it. So use it Hades does. A lack of military exploits doesn't do anything to prove a lack of martial prowess. On the contrary, Poseidon has an earthquake staff to rely on. Disarmed, how capable would he be? Disarming is an obvious tactic for the stealth fighter.

    If both are unarmed, Hades is likely to be faster, more agile, more nimble and cunning. His subjects can all fight on land. Poseidon's cannot. In a battle on land, Poseidon is at a clear disadvantage. His strength in combat is ineffective against a faster, more cunning, invisible opponent.

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  3. If they can bring armies to bare the picture would be quite different. As the ruler of the underworld Hades would have an army of demigods and heroes at his disposle and Poseiden will only be having fish. Also hades has 'good boy' on his side. So in my books Hades takes the W in all situations.

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  4. You forgot to mention Hades's bident which can shatter and destroy anything in his way and his pet Cerberus, also the story of his wound caused by Hercules has been debated, has a few version of the events that take place and doesn't make any sense, first there are very little stories about Hades so there's not much known about him, but what is known is that he practically never leaves the underworld the only time he did was to grab Persephone he doesn't even a seat on Mt Olympus, that story of his wound also states how he hates Hercules, but again in other stories there's nothing to suggest that, he let Hercules take Cerberus with no objections other than to make sure no harm came to the hound, and because of his role as God of the dead people feared him and did everything they could not to mention him, in the story he's fighting Hercules in defense of people who worship him on earth, he's not really known for being a God who received sacrifices or worship and he probably didn't care about that seeing as his realm is far larger than any place on earth where anyone and everyone becomes his to rule over. There's also a version of that story that suggest that Hercules fought Hades, Apollo, Posiedon, there's also mention of Athena and a wounded Hera, the whole story just doesn't fit everything else we know about Hades.

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  5. Would Hade's Cap of darkness only cloak his person but not weapons in his possession. Something like the invisible man who is invisible until he wears clothing? If the Cloak of Darkness can shroud other weapons in Hade's possession, then it seems like a foregone conclusion that he would win against Poseidon mano a mano on land. If the cloak cannot shroud other weapons like swords, spears and Bow, then Hades would in all probability lose. He would be detectable as soon as he picked up any weapon. So I think victory would hinge on if the Cap Of Darkness could shroud other weapons in Hade's possession.

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  6. You telling me earth quakes is enough to stop Hades?. Lol Earth is not going to do nothing and it shouldn't. That is only a threat to the human life, if you are a God, the threat of a earthquake to your life is about as serious as a fly brushing past your cheek.

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  7. Hades wasn't talked about much in Greek mythology because the Underworld was not a happy afterlife and so most people saw little point to worshipping its ruler. He was known to be very wealthy (all those gems and precious metals beneath the Earth) but he wasn't really worshipped as a god of wealth (although as Pluto the Romans sometimes did so). So this is a hard contest to measure because Hades is not well-described in ancient sources. He had the least to do with the living world.

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  8. Team hades his power is ever growing literally any and everyone who dies goes to his realm not to mention he can turn invisible and his strategy he’s older and smarter if you ask me he could even beat Zeus

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  9. Pluto and the Fates( claudian De Raptu Proserpinae)
    But the dread Fates brought these threats to naught, and, fearing for the world, gravely laid their hoary locks before the feet and throne of the lord of Hell, and with suppliant tears touched his knees with their hands – those hands beneath whose rule all things are set, whose thumbs twist the thread of fate and spin the long ages with their iron spindles. First Lachesis, her hair unkempt and disordered, thus called out upon the cruel king: “Great lord of night, ruler over the shades, thou at whose command our threads are spun, who appointest the end and origin of all things and ordainest the alternation of birth and destruction; arbiter thou of life and death – for whatsoever thing comes anywhere into being it is by they gift that it is created and owes its life to thee, and after a fixed cycle of years thou sendest souls once more into mortal bodies – seek not to break the stablished treaty of peace which our distaffs have spun and given thee, and overturn not in civil war the compact fixed ‘twixt thee and thy two brothers. Why raisest thou unrighteous standards of war? Why freest the foul band of Titans to the open air? Ask of Jove; he will give thee a wife.”

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  10. Pluto presence is described as an apocalyptic event(claudian De Raptu Proserpinae)
    When Trinacria beneath Pluto’s stroke loosed her rocky bonds and yawned wide with cavernous cleft, sudden fear seized upon the sky. The stars deserted their accustomed courses; the Bear bathed him in forbidden Ocean; terror hurried sluggish Boötes to his setting; Orion trembled. Atlas paled as he heard the neighing coursers; their smoky breath obscures the bright heavens and the sun’s orb affrighted them, so long fed on darkness. They stood biting the curb astonied at the brighter air, and struggle to turn the chariot and hurry back to dread Chaos. But soon, when they felt the lash on their backs and learned to bear the sun’s brightness, they gallop on more rapidly than a winter torrent and more fleet than the hurtling spear; swifter than the Parthian’s dart, the south wind’s fury or nimble thought of anxious mind. Their bits are warm with blood, their death-brining breath infects the air, the polluted dust is poisoned with their foam.

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  11. Hades wins, with or without weapons. The fact that Hades fought against Hercules and only ended up with a single arrow wound is in no way a detractor to him as people tend to forget how insanely strong Hercules was said to be. This a moral man with the strength to hold up the universe as we see him temporarily take Atlas' place before tricking Atlas back into his task. Seeing how the Greek gods could be entombed under the weight of a mountain, yet a mortal upheld the weight of the universe, shows the threat Hades was up against in Hercules. Also seeing how he still fought him while Poseidon refused to even consider a fight with Briareus says a lot about the two.

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  12. You forgot to mention since hades can't leave the underworld for long periods of time, he doesn't fight the wars wth the God's, and he has stated prior, he doesn't care who wins, they will all be his subjects soon enough. But if Hades got the sea and Poseidon the underworld I think Hades would win then, just from the involvement he would have seen then

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  13. This is not a accurate representation. Hades in greek times when these myths were made was rarely mentioned because you know. Death and despair. You didn't want to draw his attention. Plus hades was tasked with imprisoning and containing the titans and others. Helped weaken them and was strong enough to hold them for eons. Poseidon is more talked about because he isnt as scary. There was a myth where hades looked at a demigod and it sent him to tartarus. He has complete dominance over the underworld. Including entrances to it. Drag Poseidon down and own him. Poseidon is powerful likely the king in even more ancient myths but hades was not talked about for fear and respect

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